ALL SCI-FI

Bud Brewster

By sheer coincidence, both the U.S and the U.S.S.R each test a new and powerful atomic bomb on the same day, at the same moment. The double blast knocks the Earth from its orbit and pushes it closer to the sun. Global heating begins to fry mankind.

(Note: the concept relies on a serious over-estimation of the effect which an A-bomb would have on the mass of the Earth.)

Never mind the scientific boo-boos, the story is mostly a character study anyway, and the cast turns in great performances. Edward Judd (First Men in the Moon) and Janet Munro (Darby O'Gill and the Little People, The Crawling Eye) create characters well-worth watching.

Miss Munro is the hottest thing in the movie, despite the serious competition from an approaching sun. And yes, she wears both these outfits in the movie.

The first few minutes and last few minutes of the film are tinted red to portray the extreme heat that envelopes the Earth.

The rest of the movie is in black-and-white while the story relates the events that lead to the catastrophe that threatens mankind. Much of the story takes place in the newsroom of a London paper as the reporters pursue the tragic truth about Earth's wayward orbit, something the government is covering up.

It's an enjoyable film if you're prepared for the high concentration of melodrama. Directed skillfully by Val Guest. The DVD and the Blu-ray are highly recommended.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Robert (Butch) Day · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 11:53 am Post subject:

The Earth didn't leave it's orbit. The orbit shape was changed due to a (presumably radical) shift in the nodes of precession.

see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 3:11 pm Post subject:

I think you're mistaken, Butch. The shape of the orbital ellipse was changed, not the rate of orbital precession.

As shown in the gif below from the Wikipedia article you sited, our orbital precession causes the Earth's perihelion and aphelion to actually move slowly around the sun over time -- but the nearest and farthest distances between the sun and the Earth at each of these points remains the same from one year to the next.

The only way the Earth could be caused to get closer to the sun would be for the shape of the elliptical orbit to become more elongated.

That's what happens in The Day the Earth Caught Fire. So, our closest point to the sun (perihelion) will make the Earth uninhabitable in just four months (according to the science reporter on the staff).

Shifting the axis is bad enough, but changing the orbit because two nukes exploded on opposite sides of the Earth just doesn't work.

You can download the movie and make sure my quote below is correct. The statement about the Earth moving towards the sun is made at the 1:18:23 mark. This guy on the phone —

— tells these rather shocked gentlemen —

— that "those two bangs did more than alter the tilt. They made an 11?? shift in our orbit . . . and we're moving towards the sun."
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

scotpens · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:18 pm Post subject:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2014 11:52 pm Post subject:

You're right, Scotpens. I've heard that the poles have actually shifted positions at some point in Earth's history and caused the kind of changes they mentioned in the movie, but I think changing the tilt would only have the affect you described.

Seems like the film makers mixed the concepts together and ended up with something more wrong than right.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Robert (Butch) Day · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 12:08 pm Post subject:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 2:04 pm Post subject:

Sorry again, Butch, but I don't think there's any way to interpret what they say in the movie as being a change in the Earth's precession (wobbble), based on the dialog. The newspaper editor says --

" . . . those two bangs did more than alter the tilt. They made an 11?? shift in the Earth's orbit, and we're moving towards the sun."

So, the tilt did change, but the orbit was also altered so that the Earth was either closer to the sun throughout it's entire orbit, or it was closer during perihelion and further away during aphelion.

The wobble (precession) of either the orbit or the rotation just isn't indicated by anything in the dialog.

But we can certainly agree that they played fast and loose with the rules of cosmology, and you get burned that way every time!

Which is appropriate, all things considered . . . Very Happy

Robert (Butch) Day · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 7:21 pm Post subject:

Yeah; Kambell's Kream Of Krispy People!

(I MUST be remembering a different movie!)
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Common Sense ISN'T Common

scotpens · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 9:40 pm Post subject:

Bud Brewster · Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 10:59 pm Post subject:

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Oh yes! The Van Allen radiation belt . . . catching fire? Dear me, those guys SO needed a science adviser on that movie!

Pye-rate would have been an immense help to them. Smile

Butch and I could have straightened them out pretty good, too. Laughing

But Eadie would have been the best choice. She'd have caught all the same mistakes the rest of us would, but she'd have worked cheaper! (Or they'd assume she would . . . and then she'd call in her Beverly Hills lawyer and stick it to the suits! Twisted Evil

)
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Eadie · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 1670

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No Beverly Hills lawyer for me! Butch and I met Paul Allen when we saw Forbidden Planet at the Cinerama Theatre in March of 2012. We've been friends ever since and his lawyers (yes, plural) have helped out in several problems.

Bud Brewster · Posted: Thu Dec 25, 2014 4:21 pm Post subject:

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Great! Ummm . . . whose Paul Allen?
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Eadie · Galactic Ambassador Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 1670

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See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen

Bud Brewster · Posted: Fri Dec 26, 2014 12:27 pm Post subject:

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Oh, THAT Paul Allen! Very Happy

Gee, I saw him just like week in Las Vegas. He was thinkin' about buying it.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

Bud Brewster · Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2016 10:42 pm Post subject:

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On June 17th we'll be watching this during All Sci-Fi's Friday Live Chat, and just to stir up a little advanced enthusiasm, here's the trailer for this unusual and exception science fiction film.

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__________ The Day the Earth Caught Fire - Trailer

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)